China and Mississippi River lead to cruise line pulling up anchor in N.O.China and Mississippi River lead to cruise line pulling up anchor in N.O.

By Christopher Tidmore
Contributing quick rv loans Writer

In 2012, The Royal Caribbean’s massive Voyager of the Seas sailed from New Orleans to Singapore, carrying passengers re-positioning from the Crescent City to stops in Europe—and some in Asia. And, the on-board Casino was closed for most of the trans-Atlantic journey.

The massive increase in wealthy Chinese cruisers, who preferred Baccarat to the usually North American Video poker predilection, convinced the staff to close the casino for a week to introduce more card tables. In other words, Royal Caribbean chose to lose thousands from their captive ocean going passengers with no ports of call for six days—in order to prepare payday advance loans in maryland for the Chinese gamblers that would board at Singapore and across the new near East route for the Voyager of the Seas.

The Chinese traveler was just more lucrative of a market, and a Chinese gambler would spend more money in a day than a group of American gamblers would in captive quarters for a week. The value of Sinotourism was a truism proved once more when it was announced two weeks ago that when Royal Caribbean’s Serenade of the Seas re-positions back to Europe in 2015 from New Orleans, it will not be returning in 2016. Instead, like the Voyager, New Orleans will impact solutions payday loans lose another cruiseliner to China. And, this time, Royal Caribbean won’t provide a replacement come 2016.

And for the author, who traveled on Serenade of Seas regular journey from NOLA to Barcelona at the end of April 2014, there was not a word of those plans. So many New Orleanians were aboard, and taking the long passage to Europe, that Royal Caribbean did not want to disturb its current crop of the passengers.

And, frankly, having a cruise ship that leaves the port of New Orleans in the fall and winter months, and then goes to the Mediterranean in April for personal loan lenders with bad credit the Summer months, only to return to the Crescent City in October, has constituted a huge economic im­pact for the City of New Orleans. Enough bad press that the company had good reason to deny release of the explosive decision for as long as possible. Nevertheless, when Royal Caribbean leaves next April 2015, thousands of hotel rooms throughout the year that the ship fills before or after its Caribbean journeys will fall unoccupied. The increasing number of North American travelers who used New Orleans as a launch point for going to Europe, or for their return six months later, will seek other top loan companies for bad credit destinations.

New Orleans will pay the price for China’s rise. And, the strange part is that the Crescent City has become a major destination port for Royal Caribbean cruisers. In 2012, Voyager of the Seas’ cruise director noted to The Louisiana Weekly had become “a major draw” for potential passengers.

If that was so, however, Voyager’s successor ship Serenade of the Seas would be homeporting in New Orleans each winter, regardless of the growing importance of Chinese tourists. While passengers do flock to the city, and in many cases stay another day or two before their cruise, the expense of sailing down the Mississippi River does play a role in Royal Caribbean’s decision to leave

It takes half a day just to reach the Gulf of Mexico, and that means, “You have to employ two sets of pilots,” explained a local maritime attorney. That incurs considerable expense not seen in other US ports, like Tampa, and certainly not present in Singapore or Sydney. Ports of call for many Chinese travelers.

Christopher Tidmore just completed his second trans-Atlantic Trip on a Royal Caribbean cruise liner, and is currently in Europe on assignment.

This article originally published in the June 23, 2014 print edition of The Louisiana Weekly newspaper.